Paul Reville: Back to School in Massachusetts

Thursday

Sep 25, 2008 at 12:01 AMSep 25, 2008 at 3:32 PM

We must build a stronger, more robust education system, building on the success of the past 15 years of education reform, but addressing the immediate and long-term needs of students with greater urgency.

Paul Reville

As an educator and as a parent, my life revolves around the school year. Consequently, back-To-school time seems to me more like the beginning of the New Year than does Jan. 1.

As a parent of children in the Worcester Public Schools, I’m mindful of how much we are asking of our educators. We are asking them to help our students achieve world-class proficiency in English, math, history and science. We want students to become fluent in the arts, to be healthy and physically fit; and to develop the attributes of character that will make them exemplary citizens, workers, leaders, heads of families and lifelong learners.

The trouble is we ask our teachers to accomplish all this with a school schedule better suited to the 19th century. There isn’t enough time in the day, let alone the school day to accomplish all of what we want for our children. Too many important subjects, skills and learning opportunities are not only being squeezed out of the curriculum, but out of children’s lives altogether.

We must build a stronger, more robust education system, building on the success of the past 15 years of education reform, but addressing the immediate and long-term needs of students with greater urgency. It’s what we need to prepare every child in Massachusetts for success in the global 21st Century economy.

Under the leadership of Gov. Deval Patrick and with the support of hundreds of educators, business leaders, students and families who participated in the Readiness Project, we have constructed the Governor’s Education Action Agenda – our blueprint for the next 10 years of education reform.

This plan is different from approaches in the past. We are now including our early childhood experts and higher education practitioners at the table with elementary and secondary school educators, so we can seamlessly meet the needs of students at every step of their education.

We’ve already begun to implement some of the policies and initiatives outlined in the Readiness Project with the Legislature.

Universal Pre-Kindergarten is now a reality in more cities and towns across the commonwealth, providing children with the strong base they need to be successful academically.

Expanded Learning Time exists in more schools, providing students with additional time in the core subjects as well as opportunities for art, music and physical education.

Dual enrollment programs enabling high school students to experience college are again a top priority.

Meanwhile, we have just delivered an historic investment in higher education capital construction.

As Education Secretary, I’ve directed the new Executive Office of Education to both implement the Readiness Project, and to strengthen communication and collaboration between state agencies and schools so we can better align support to address the needs of students in and out of school.

We are planning new language-oriented, family engagement programs for disadvantaged children ages 1-3 to start them on the right path toward literacy.

We are developing the governor’s proposal to make community college free so that students can continue their education beyond high school.

And, we are preparing plans to open the first group of Readiness Schools that will allow for greater educator and parental autonomy in the design and operation of schools. Readiness Schools will build on the success of Pilot and Charter Schools, so we can replicate their best practices in school districts throughout Massachusetts and give even more students the chance to benefit from innovative teaching and learning.

Each of these initiatives are strategies for building a 21st century education system designed to help us deliver on the promise, as yet not fully realized, of education reform – all children educated to proficiency and prepared for success.

Now that Gov. Patrick has clearly described his vision for education reform, we can begin to tackle the challenges of financing it. There is no question the price of inaction will cost far more than implementing these important initiatives. We have asked a team of finance and education experts to serve on the Readiness Finance Commission to help us chart a map for funding.

As teachers, administrators, school staff and students settle in to a new school year, we will be working to find the best way to give school districts the funding they need to continue their success with students, while developing a long-term plan to fund the Readiness vision for education over the next decade.

Paul Reville is Massachusetts Secretary of Education.

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